Once Gone
by teh-noob
Summary: With Link and Malon murdered, and a new evil lingering over Hyrule, can Zelda accept fate, or will she rebel and try to stop the inevitable doom of her kingdom?
1. Prologue

**_Prologue_**

"I know! I know! But listen; It was Zelda in those weird clothes!" Link waited for some responses.

"No way!" Malon shrieked.

"Zelda would never wear something like that!" Saria said in disbelief.

"I know, I had trouble believing it myself, but I swear to Din it was Zelda!" Link was practically yelling in an attempt to talk louder than the two girls. "Then, she gave me these really shiny arrows. They were called the 'Light Arrows', and they could let me dispose of Ganondorf without a problem. Of course, combined with my sword skills, he went down easily!"

The three weren't taking the events that had happened just a week ago very seriously. Of course, they were all drunk. Except for Saria. It seemed that Kokiri were immune to the effects of alchohol. Link was very drunk, for it was his first time with alchohol and he had underestimated it. Malon herself was not as 'childish' as Talon would like to believe. She was quite aquainted with the vile beverage.

"I would imagine that we'll be needing some of my 'cure'! I'll be right back!" Malon ran out of the room. Link forced his drunken mind to register his surroundings. He was in Malon's room, a place he was very familiar with. The walls were burgandy, polished to a perfect shine. It had some little swirls on it to give the room a nice, comfy feel, while also being foreign and adventurous. The floor wasn't polished, and had a rough feel to it, while also being very inviting. There was a tall, light brown dresser in the left corner, right by a small, half-circle window. The whole room had a very attractive pine-orange scent to it, and felt very much like home.

Malon bursted through the door. She had two bottles a a drippy, yellow-green substance. Link raised an eyebrow out of curiousity. Malon giggled a little, then shoved a bottle towards Link. He gave out a little sigh of disgust, then opened the top of the bottle.

"Oh dear Nayru! The stench is horrible!" Link gagged slightly. He watched as Malon opened hers and chugged it down without a problem. Link wasn't about to be outdone by a girl. He out the bottle to his lips, and took three long gulps. He swallowed loudly several more times. He looked at Malon for a long time, staying totally silent. "You tricked me, didn't you?" Link stared at Malon blankly. Malon just smiled and nodded. Link looked at her with hatred.

"I there wasn't three of you, I would kill you right now," Link threatened. His eyes were burning with anger.

"Don't worry, you'll thank me in the morning! After you're done throwing up..." Malon's voice trailed off. She knew he hated throwing up more than he hated Ganondorf.

"WHAT!" Link shot up, knocking over some alchohol in the process. It dripped all over the floor, but he didn't care.

"Er... you're gonna... throw up..." Malon said quietly. She looked away sheepishly. Link slowly started walking over to Malon, but Saria interrupted them. "I think I hear something!" Saria cried.

"Well, I can't see properly. What is it?" Link inquired, hatred gone from his voice.

"Well, it looks like... MOBLINS!" Saria screamed. Ready for the battle, or so he thought, Link went to grab his sword. Instead, he fell over and bashed his head off the wall. Link got up and shook it off. ignoring the sword, he grabbed his shield instead. He readied himself, holding his shield up in the defensive position.

Minutes passed as Link waited. His ears twitched as he heard a whistling sound. Link blinked and looked up. "DUCK!" Link barked. The two girls obeyed. Suddenly, an arrow got stuck in the window. 'A few more arrows, and that window's gone!' Link thought worridly. Another arrow flew into the window, followed by another. Link's grip on his shield tensed until his knuckles turned white. Whistling through the air, the last arrow came, shattering the window.

Outside, Link could hear an odd sound. It almost sounded like... fire! As the familiar whistling started again, the arrow came into view. Suddenly remembering the alchohol on the ground, Link made a grab for the arrow. He caught it, but on the fire side. Link held onto it, twisting his face in pain. The fire dwindled, and he dropped it. "I knew I should've worn my gloves," Link said under his breath. Another arrow flew in through the window, but this one was out of his range. At least, the real one was. As he predicted the path of the arrow, he started to cry. The arrow made a sickening thud, and that was soon followed by a scream.

"MALON!" Link screamed. He dropped his shield, and ran over to Malon. She was bleeding profusely, the arrow just by her heart. Link held Malon's head on his shoulder. The whistling sound happened again. Looking at the arrow, he realized he had no chance to catch this one. The arrow plunged his left shoulder, wounding his sword arm.

"Saria, run! I don't want you to die, too!" Link ordered her, tears streaming down his red face. Nodding, Saria ran as fast as she could. As Link sat there, holding tightly onto Malon as well as his own wound. Link haerd the whistling of a flaming arrow. It landed right in some alchohol, igniting the substance. The flames started out small, licking at the air. In a matter of minutes, the flames were towering over Link and Malon. The heat was making Link sweat, making the fact that he was crying almost impossible to see. Link wasn't entirely hopeless, though. Malon was still alive.

Outside of the door, a small army of feet could be heard running up the stairs. The Moblins would kill them if the fire didn't. As they burst through the door, Link was unable to see them. The smoke of the fire was blinding him. He would never see the Moblins, as the thick black smoke caused him to pass out.


	2. The Biggest Loss

**_The Biggest Loss_**

Zelda sat in her room, sulking. She was staring out to Lon Lon Ranch. Link was going there to Malon's birthday party. She was turning eight-teen. It wasn't that Zelda wasn't invited, but she was grounded for making a scene at the market. The bombchu game was rigged! Zelda knew their tricks, and she wouldn't be quiet until they un-rigged it. That didn't turn out too well.

It was eight thirty, and Malon had promised everyone that she would show them a 'special creation'. The fact that she wouldn't see it was tugging at her. It was prodding her, mocking her, no matter how hard she tried to shake the feeling. It wasn't very often she missed such important events, either. For a princess, she had quite a bit of freedom.

Zelda's room was absolutely breathtaking. The walls were made of the finest marble, and the floor had beautiful, shining ceramic tiles. The finest in the kingdom. On the walls were stained glass, bearing pictures of Din, Nayru, and Farore, the three gods. It showed the creation of the Triforce, as well as the legend of the Hero of Time. Zelda's bed was a four poster, triple king-sized bed. It was custom made of the finest fabrics available. It had costed millions of rupees. Even though her room was so glamorus, Zelda hated it. She had lived in here her whole life, and wanted a rougher lifestyle. She wanted to take care of herself. She knew how to! She was a good cook, could knit stuff with the right fabrics, and had fire magic. All she needed was someone to hunt for her. Like Link...

Zelda tried to get that thought out of her head. Everything seemed to revolve around Link these days. He seemed so... manly when he was fighting Ganon. His muscles were bulging, and he was doing backflips constantly, dodging Ganon's huge, menacing swords. He managed to keep his cool. When he came back to get the Master Sword, he leaned over and said 'Thanks', planting a soft kiss on her cheek! You have to be calm to do that! Zelda had to admit that Link's muscles were only slightly bigger than average. He wasn't the strongest man ever.

As Zelda let out a sigh of admiration, a black cloud caught her eye. She shot up onto her bed with a shock, realizing that it was coming from Lon Lon Ranch. Zelda took off, busting through her door and taking three stairs at a time. Unfortunately, her room was at the top floor of the castle.

After a good ten minutes of skipping stairs, Zelda reached the king's chamber, sweating and out of breath. Tears were running down her face and her hair was messy and tangled like an out-of-control bush.

"Daddy, Lon Lon is burning! Link and Malon and Saria are there, and they might--"

"Woah, woah, Zelda. Slow down. What's happening?" The king was quite surprised at Zelda's frantic look.

Zelda took three deep, shaky breaths and wiped the tears from her eyes. "Okay, I was upstairs and I saw Lon Lon burning. Link, Malon and Saria are there, and I'm scared for them," Zelda finished between sobs. Her father had a very concerned look on his face, and summoned the guard captain. "GO!" he hollered at them. When they were gone, the king looked at Zelda with a very soft, almost sad face on.

"Do you want to go with them?" He asked softly. Zelda looked at the ground, tears dripping. She slowly shook her head, feeling ashamed. She didn't want to go pay honour to her best friend's fallen corpses.

"I understand. It's hard to lose a friend, but it's even harder to to pay your respects. Once that's done, it means coming to terms with the fact that they'll be gone forever," the king said, truly connecting on a spiritual level with Zelda. Unable to hold it in, Zelda buried her head into her father's shoulders, and cried.


	3. Shocking News

**_Shocking News_**

Zelda's eyes slowly opened, slightly resisting from dried tears. She was on her bed, with no covers on. She figured that her father must've brought her up. Zelda figured that she had cried herself to sleep in her father's arms. She sat still for a long time, thinking about whether she should look out her window or not. Zelda's eyes were watering just thinking about it. Reluctantly, she sat up, looking opposite from the window. She gathered all of her emotional strength, and started towards the door. She slowly grabbed onto the handle, and twisted it. Step by step, at a steady pace, she set off down the stairs. Zelda was trying to give her mind time to wrap around all of this.

Two of her best friends, gone so suddenly. Without warning, by a fire. Zelda sat down on one of the stairs hands over her eyes. She slowly shook her head, thinking what it would've been like if she was there. Would she've died, along with the others, or watch them die right in front of her? Burn alive, slowly, screaming for help, while she was too scared. Just cowering in a corner, crying. Screaming.

No! She had to get these thoughts form her head! She was a strong, loyal friend, and wouldn't allow that to happen. But it had happened, all because she had a temper.

That thought struck something inside her head. 'Maybe a temper isn't my only problem,' She thought. 'I might be a little controlling. I think I might even be obsessive compulsive. I wonder if I seem desperate? Oh no, that means I'll never get a boyfriend! Which means that I'll never be queen!'

A chain reaction of bad thoughts went off in Zelda's head. She wasn't the girl she thought she was. She was horrible! So many flaws! No wonder Link had been so eager to set off on his journey. He wanted to get away from Zelda! Anger boiled up inside her. Then why all of the displays of affection? The more affection he showed, the less Zelda would bother him. That pathetic little slug! He never even liked Zelda in the slightest!

Finally, common sense found it's way into the jumble of bad thoughts. Shaking her head, Zelda knew that she was over reacting from all of the sudden happenings going on. Now cleared up for the most part, she set off down the stairs, quite a bit faster. Zelda opened the door, and saw her father talking with a scout team of guards, which was only five guards. Zelda could only hear mumbling, but obviously it was important news, as the king looked very interested. The guard captain finished speaking, and the king nodded. He started talking, and again, Zelda could only hear mumbling. The guards straightened up, saluted, and then ran off in formation.

Zelda walked up to her father hoping that she didn't look too out of order. Zelda took a deep breath, trying to make sure that she didn't break down in tears. "What did the guards say?" Zelda asked, very interested, yet at the same time not wanting to know. The king looked at her.

"Well, this might be a little odd for you. Here I go; as the guards were searching through the charred remains of Lon Lon, they found three things. The first was footprints," The king waited for this to sink in. Zelda's eyes widened.

The king continued. "They were footprints from Moblins," Zelda opened her mouth to say something, looking angry, but the king hushed her.

"The second was a sword. It had a rough carving of the Triforce in it, and bandages around the lower part of the blade. It was slightly chipped and well used," the king stopped and took a deep, unsteady breath. "The third is disturbing. It was found in the upstairs room. A human finger. It was quite large. It looked like it belonged on the middle part. We're assuming it was Link's,"

Zelda let out a large gasp, trying not to cry. "Did they find bodies?" Zelda demanded.

"No bodies. Nothing other than those three things," the king said, shaking his head. Zelda looked devastated.

"Then they must have gotten out! There's no way that the fire could've burned their bodies!" Zelda was crying, and her words were very shaky. She slowly started to look away. The king let out a sigh.

"They were in the middle of it. The fire was coming from all around them, and the heat burnt their whole bodies, not just one part,"

"No! It's not possible! There's no way they could be dead! Link can do alone what an army can't!"

"But Zelda, a whole army couldn't survive a fire that was all around them. You have to accept it! They're gone!" the king grabbed Zelda's chin and directed her gaze to his. They looked at each other for a long time. "Zelda, I'm saying this as your father, not your ruler. They're dead. There's nothing you could've done," Sobbing, Zelda nodded. Her father let go, and she started to walk back to her room, tears falling to the ground.


	4. Times Gone By

**_Times Gone By_**

After many weeks of searching, it was confirmed that the fire had totally burnt Link and Malon's bodies. There was no chance of them getting out. Even if the fire hadn't got to them, the Moblins would've more than taken care of it. This didn't bode well for Hyrule. With their biggest hero dead for good, there were more monsters than usual. They were coming in swarms, wiping out whole families, and sometimes even whole buildings. The population was dropping faster than a boulder through air. Also, with Hyrule's milk provider gone, people were starting to get really annoyed. Lon Lon milk was a very addictive drink, but it was also extremely good for your whole body, not just bones. Recently, a lot of barfights have been happening.

The people of Hyrule held the biggest funeral ever recorded in Hylian history for Link and Malon. Almost everyone, Zoras and Gorons included, attended. There was a lot of crying. Grown men showed their softer side. Darunia, king of the Gorons, was crying the whole way through.

This loss affected Princess Zelda more than anyone. With two of her best friends gone, she was very sad and, more than ever, very pissed off! With all of the rampages and deaths going on, she had to deal with taxes, insurance, planning funerals, and almost everything else. She was getting it worse than her father!

Despite all of this, something more was bothering Zelda. The Triforce on her hand was glowing every time a swarm of monsters attacked. She was convinced that a great evil was at work. Greater than Ganondorf. Her father simply said it was an after affect of Link's sudden death.

Three years passed, nothing getting better. Hyrule's economy and peaceful days had pretty much burned up along with Link and Malon. Everyone had all but forgotten about the two, except for Talon and Zelda. Zelda spent most of her time holed up in her room, signing papers and returning messages, talking with villagers who had lost family members, and talking with her father about taking some of Zelda's workload. At times when Zelda wasn't working, she was crying. The image of her two friends were fading from her mind. All she remembered was their general appearance. Link had blonde hair with blue eyes. Were his eyes bue? Weren't they green? Malon was a beautiful girl with fiery red hair and soft, slightly tanned skin. Or was it pale? Zelda didn't know anymore. Her life was a living hell.

"Dad! Those monsters aren't normal! They aren't coming from a natural place! They're the work of a greater evil!" Zelda screamed at her father.

"Honey, I--"

"Don't call me honey!" Zelda interrupted her father. He knew she hated being called honey.

"Zelda, I know that you feel that we're in danger, but it's all just a coincidence!"

"Remember that time, eleven years ago, when I had the dream about Hyrule being taken over and you didn't believe me?"

"Well, yes, I do, but that was only once. It could be a coincedence this time," the king tried to reason with Zelda.

"But it's not! I know it! Please, you have to listen to me..." Zelda was crying.

"Don't worry, Zelda. It will always turn out for the best, like it always has," The king took Zelda into a hug.

"But we always had Link around before..."


End file.
